Barbara Abbott

Barbara has more than twenty-five years of experience in childcare. She has been at Parenting Journey for over fifteen years, serving as food coordinator for the past three years. She has also worked with the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) for over sixteen years.  Barbara enjoys spending time with her beagle, Shadow, and loves everything turtles. She currently has a live one at home, named Camel by her niece when she was two. She enjoys getting out of the city to her quiet place in New Hampshire. When she can’t get to New Hampshire, you can find her at Castle Island.

Amy Brinn, LICSW

Amy Brinn is the Clinical Director at Parenting Journey in Somerville MA. In this capacity she supervises Parenting Journey Group Facilitators and Trainers, provides clinical on call services for groups and trainings, facilitates Parenting Journey groups and trainings, organizes continuing education on clinical practice, participates in curriculum development, and is a member of the Leadership Team. She also has a private practice as a Parent Coach in Newton, MA. She has an MSW from Simmons School of Social Work and has been a practicing licensed social worker in the Greater Boston area for over 25 years. She has extensive expertise in meditation and self-compassion practice. Her dream has always been to work with parents on the most important job in their lives. In her work she wants parents to feel heard, supported and informed in order to feel empowered to be effective parents. She loves helping parents find joy and mastery in their parenting and in their lives. Amy lives with her husband in Newton, and has two adult children.

Cristina Chua, LCSW

Cristina Chua is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) who earned her Master’s Degree in Social Work from Hunter College in New York. Cristina originally developed her passion for social work as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Costa Rica where she partnered with Child Protective Services of Costa Rica to create programs for children and youth.  Upon moving to New York, Cristina worked for ten years as a Bilingual Social Worker for Good Shepherd Services providing counseling, case management and crisis intervention support to predominantly immigrant families in Brooklyn, New York.  In this role, Cristina had the privilege to be trained as a Parenting Journey and Parenting in America facilitator and ran these groups multiple times with families in both English and Spanish.  Most recently, Cristina worked as a trauma therapist, supporting children, adolescents and young adults impacted by abuse, neglect or traumatic grief. Currently, Cristina is a trainer for the Parenting Journey, works with individuals in private practice and serves as a Bilingual Social Worker for Atlas: DIY, an organization that empowers immigrant youth.  In her free time, Cristina loves to dance, meditate, and run workshops.

Alessandra Fisher

Alessandra Fisher joined Parenting Journey in 2021 as a group facilitator.  Alessandra has worked for the Massachusetts Alliance of Portuguese Speakers since 2011, where she has gained an enormous amount of experience throughout the years by taking on multiple roles within the organization.  She proudly sits as a consumer board member for the Lowell Community Health Center representing her community.

Community building, inclusion, diversity and social justice are the forces driving her life. Alessandra is passionate about community-based art projects that promote social change and theatre for mindfulness and self-awareness. Alessandra truly believes in the power of one’s voice and the value of creating a safe space for one to speak and be heard.

She earned her Master’s Degree in Theatre Education and Community from Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her husband and two daughters. Alessandra speaks fluent Portuguese.

Roberta Green

Roberta Green is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) who earned her Master’s Degree in Social Work from Simmons College in Boston, Mass.  Roberta has over 35 years of experience working with families of marginalized communities in the human services field.  Roberta feels that each person is the expert of their life, hence her strong belief in the Empowerment Theory. Roberta also provides ongoing rape crisis counseling to individuals in need.

Carolina Grynbal, LMSW, MS

Carolina Grynbal has over twenty-five years of experience in the nonprofit and public sectors. She currently serves as a Senior Trainer and Group Leader at Parenting Journey. She has extensive experience in organizational planning and development, management, leadership development and strategic planning and evaluation. She has been involved in program design, development and implementation initiatives spanning the range from prenatal and early childhood services, adolescent, adult and senior services, to community development. Carolina has provided clinical psychotherapy services to children and adolescents with a special emphasis on Latino families. She also has extensive experience as a human services trainer. Carolina holds a Masters degree in Social Work from the Ehrenkranz School of Social Work at New York University and a Masters degree in Nonprofit Management from the Wagner School of Public Service at New York University. Carolina has served as Adjunct Lecturer at the Wagner School and is a lecturer in Gender, Race and Class Studies at PACE University. She also served as co-chair of the board of the Soto Velez Cultural Center in Manhattan. Originally from Venezuela, Carolina is fluent in Spanish.

Shawn Howard, LMSW

Shawn G. Howard, LMSW is an Assistant Program Director for Staten Island Family Services (a division of the Jewish Board of Family & Children’s Services, Inc.). He received his B.S. from Metropolitan College of New York, formerly Audrey Cohen College and his MSW from New York University-Silver School of Social Work. In 2003 Mr. Howard began his career with JBFCS as a caseworker and eventually worked his way up to his current administrative role with the program. Mr. Howard has been influential in developing and facilitating multiple youth groups that address various issues faced by today’s adolescents.  In addition, Mr. Howard has successfully incorporated the Parenting Journey parenting class to JBFCS which continues to be facilitated in several locations across the five boroughs. Mr. Howard has worked in the human services field for approximately 12 years assisting families directly and through advocacy with systems that affect their lives. He currently resides on Staten Island with his wife and children. He can be contacted at showard@jbfcs.org.

Ann Marie Teuber, LMFT

Ann Marie has been at Parenting Journey since 1997. Presently, her work focuses on supporting our National Replication efforts and leading Parenting Journey Trainings. After working as a speech pathologist for 20 years, Ann Marie reinvented her career by returning to Emanuel College to earn a Master’s Degree in Pastoral Counseling and learned Marriage and Family Therapy skills, which she developed at Parenting Journey as an intern.

Today, in addition to her work at Parenting Journey, Ann Marie is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. She is passionate about the work done at Parenting Journey because she has seen firsthand the positive influence and power our programs foster in the parents we serve. She truly wants everybody who needs this program to have it available to them, and training parents and family advocates to use the Parenting Journey curriculum brings her closer to this goal! In her spare time she loves to travel, play with her grandchildren, and exercise for good health!